Freezing device



Dmn 31, 1,935.

R. H. HlLTQN FREEZING DEVICE 2 sheets-sheet 1 Original Filed Nov. 25, 1951 R. H. CHILTON FREEZING DEVICE Dec. 3l, 1935.

Original Filed Nov. 25, 1931 2 Sheets--Shee'I 2 Patented Dec.' 31, `1935 2,026,214 FItEEZIN G DEVICE Ralph H. Chilton, Dayton, Ohio, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application November 2s, leal, serial Ne. '577,222 Renewed April 1o, 1935 1s claims.. (ci. ca -loss) I5 level.

This invention relates to a container and associated means for freezing ice in a freezing compartment of a refrigerator.

An object of the invention is to provide a highly exible freezing container and means for moving vit from its freezing position in the freezing compartment to an ice-removing position and simultaneously bending it partially around a roller to facilitate the removal of the, frozen contents.

A more specific object is to provide such a container carried by a continuous flexible belt mounted upon rollers and moved by the rotation of one of said rollers to cause the container to to provide high flexibility to the container preferably boththe longitudinal and transverse partitions are slotted. thus forming the interconnections between the-ice pockets. By this invention the length of the belt is divided into a series of separate containers whereby each container may have the interconnecting ice pockets throughout its length and yet there will be no chance for the water to leak or run out at the belt rollers. This feature of lllng all the pockets of one container at one time is especially adntageous since no means is required for lling h pocket or transverse row of pockets as it passes over the rear roller to its up position. By filling a large. number of pockets at one time while the belt is stationary, as is possible -by this invention, the filling means may be greatly simplied whether it is automatic or manually controlled. In the form illustrated hereinL a single manually controlled valve serves as the simple means for filling each entire container after it is turned to its up or freezing position, the slotted partitions permitting the water to run into and nil all the pockets to the same A further feature of this invention is the refrigerated metal plate upon which the exible container directly rests while, freezing takes place, thus greatly enhancing rapidity of freezing due to rapid'conduction of heat through the bottom of said container. y

A' further feature isthe elevation of the driving roller slightly: above said metal freezing plate whereby the exible container is more easily pulled lloose from said plate ifit is frozen thereto.

' A further feature of the invention is the mounting oi.' the water reservoir used for iilling the freezing containers in a location whereby the water therein will be maintained at -or only In the drawings: l Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of the organization of this invention, showing a longitudinal section oi.' a continuous belt carrying two containers mounted upon two rollers lwithin a freezing compartment oi.' a cooling unit of a* domestic refrigerator.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a plan view of the flexible container and is taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4--4 of Fig.3.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the severalviews.

I designates the refrigerant tank and II the' duct loops leading therefrom and surrounding the freezing'compartment I2 of the cooling unit, which may be located in the upper portion of a refrigerator box, in a manner well known. The rear wall of the box is shown at I3 in Fig. i to illustrate how the cooling unitcomprising this invention is preferably spaced from the rear wall. Two rotatable drums I5 and I6 are suitably mounted within freezing compartment I2 to carry the continuous flexible belt and the containers 2| an'd 22 carried thereby. In the form shown,

bend around said driving roller to facilitate the slightly above 32 F. and the means for prevent- 15 removal of the ice. ing the freezing up of the filling duct leading Another object is to provide a sexies (twol or from said reservoir to a point adjacent the con more) of containers carried by the iiexible belt, tainer. each having a plurali of interconnecting i A further feature oi!` the .invention is the inpockets therein and e h being movable to a clination of the longitudinal side walls of the 2o lling position where all the pockets of one conflexible container and the slotted construction of tainer may be illled with water to the desired the transverse and longitudinal ,partitions-.there. .level from a single water supply while said belt of whichfacilitates the bending of the container is stationary. If there were interconnecting ice around the rollers upon which it is. mounted. pockets in a long flexible container extending Further objects and advantages of the present 25 around either of the rollers it would not be posinvention will be apparent from the following desible to nil only the upper portion of said conscription. reference being had to the accompanytainer since the water 'would run out through the ing drawings, wherein a preferred `embodiment interconnecting pockets where the container of one form of the present invention is clearly bends down aroundone or both rollers. In order shown. 3

the two containers 2| and 22 are molded each in one piece of exible soft rubber after the `manner of molding the ordinary rubber ice tray. Then the two are connected together at their ends at 23 and 24 by any suitable splices or joining means to form the continuous belt 20 which is mounted upon drums I5 and I6. Drum I5.is

shown as having a crank handle I4 for manually rotating same to cause the containers 2| and 22 to move as a belt around said drums and switch places with each other. Container 2| may be filled with water, when in its top position as shown in Figs.v 1 and 2, by turning the handcock 23 which lets water run bygravity from the reservoir 24 through duct 6 and fill all the ice pockets 25 of the entire container 2| while it remains in the position shown. A

A special feature of this inventionO is the construction of the containers whereby they are suftlciently rigid to support themselves when filled with water as described above. and at. the same time are suillciently flexible to passjaround the drums I5 and I6. The longitudinal partltions e2'I are not continuous but stop short of each transverse partition 30 leaving the slots 23, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The transverse partitions 30 are preferably continuous across the container to give suitable support to the outwardly inclined side walls 3| against outward' distortion under the weight of the contained water. However in order to more easily permit side walls 3| to buckle outwardly when passing around the drums I5 and I6 short slots 29 are preferably provided in the upper portions of transverse parti- `tions 30. Of course the deeper the slotsZQ are the greater willbe the bending exibility of the container around the drums, but the less will be the staying effect of partitions 30 upon the side walls 3|. The best balance between these two can be readily obtained by trial for a given design simply by varying the depth of slots 29.

The ilexiblelcontainer preferably has its bottom projecting laterally on each side vto form flanges which have holes molded therein to mesh with sprocketteeth 36 on drum I5. By this means a very strong tractive pull can be exerted by the driving drum I5 to pull the container free from a possible frosted bond with the metal plate which supports the container between the two drums. Another aid in freeing the rubber container 2| from plate 4I) is obtained by causing the container to rise up from plate 40 at point 4I as it passes to drum I5 (see Fig. 1). It will be clear that when drum I5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow it will tend to break loose thefrozen bond at point 4I and this loosening will progress along the length of plate 40 due to the progressing change in angle of the container bottom andalso due to a slight stretching of the flexible rubber bottom when it is put under tension by the rotation of d rum I5.

In operation, container 2| is moved to the position shown and filled with water from tank 24 by the hand operated cock 23. Sincethe waten will Arun into all the pockets 25 the operator can easily see when the desired level is reached and then shut of! cock 23. Tank 24 is preferably adjustably located with one side adjacent the refrigerant boiler I0 so that some ice II will form therein on that side only., which will maintain the rest of water in tank 24 very slightly above 32 F. without danger of freezing same. The cock Y 23 when. turned to shut off the water opens -up a vent hole I8 (see Fig. 2) which permits all the water in duct 26 to immediately run out into container 2|. Also duct 23 may ne arranged to cock 23 to an adjacent position above freezing temperature immediately after the filling opera- Thus all difficulties of water freezing in duct 28 and causing it to clog with ice are prevented.

Now since container 2| is illled with water very nearly the freezing point it will be .frozen therein very rapidly, due to the surrounding. cold air and 10 the refrigerated metal plate 40 immediately adjacent the bottom of the container.

To remove the frozen ice blocks from the container the operator slowly turns crank I4 which progressively pulls the container loose from its l5 frosted bond with plate 40 as described above. and as the container due to its great flexibility as described above bends around drum I5 the ice blocks are loosenedand may be either picked therefrom by hand or allowed to drop down into 20 the. removable ice pan 60 which serves as an ice reservoir where the ice blocks may be kept without melting. Thus only several ice blocks may be removed at one time, or all may be dumped into pan 50, which preferably is pulled slightly 25 forward in direction of arrow A6| during this dumping operation. If container 2| is entirely emptied at one time, as described, the lower container 22- will then be in its filling and freezing position. It is then nlled with cold water as above described 30 and the operation repeated. With this device the following advantages are inherent: (1) ice is very rapidly produced since the container is lled with water very near its freezing point; (2) the removal of the frozen blocks is simply' done by any 35 child or unskilled person without possibility of damage to any parts by the simple turning of a crank; (3) the ice blocks need no washing since they need not be touched by hand during removal but may all be dumped into the removable`-pan 40 and then carried to the user in said panil; (4) there is no messy lling of a removable freezing tray at the kitchen sink with a consequent wetting of the outside of the tray, which wetting ordinarily causes such atray to be later tightly frozen 45.

in place and hence hard to remove; (5) the flexible container is kept absolutely sanitary since it is not removed and carried around by hand to various places and need never be touched by hand at all. 50 It is to be understood that the principles of this invention may be readily applied to any form of cooling unit having a freezing compartment and that the particular form of cooling unit here disclosed is chiefly for the purpose of illustrating ap- 4v"plicant's invention as defined by the claims.

belt and elongated in the direction'of movement of said belt and having partitions therein todivide the frozen contents into blocks, said partitions having slots therein so located as to open and thereby facilitate the Lpassing of saidcontainer around said drums and the'. ejection of the-frozen blocks fromsaid container. i" 2. In a refrigerator having a freezing chamber.' f5

Iin combination, `a flexible belt mounted upon roto bend therearound whereby to facilitate the tatable drums so as to pass through said freezing chamber, driving means for said drums, and a flexible non-metallic freezing container on said belt and elongated in the direction of movement of said belt and adapted topass around said drums with said belt when said drums are rotated to eject the frozen contents from said container, said container having a longitudinal partition having a series of slots therein to facilitate the bending of said container around said drums and the ejection of the frozen blocks therefrom.

3. In a refrigerator having a freezing chamber, in combination, a flexible belt mounted upon r0- tatable drums so as to pass through said freezing chamber, driving means for said drums, and a flexible non-metallic freezing container on said belt and elongated in the direction of movement of said belt, and adapted to pass around said drums with said belt when said drums are rotated to eject the frozen contents from said container, said container having slotted transverse partitions therein to facilitate lthe bending of said container around said drums and the ejection of the frozen blocks therefrom.

4. In a refrigerator having a freezing chamber, in combination, a flexible belt mounted upon rotatable drums so as to pass through said freezing chamber, driving means for said drums, and a flexible non-metallic freezing container on-said belt and adapted to pass around said drums with said belt when said drums are rotated to eject the frozen contents from said container, said container having slotted transverse partitions and a slotted longitudinal partition therein to facilitate the bending of said container around said drums and the ejection of the frozen contents therefrom 5. In a refrigerator having a freezing chamber, in combination, a flexible belt mounted upon rotatable drums so as to pass through said freezing chamber, driving means for 'said drums, anda exible non-metallic freezing container on said belt and adapted to pass around said drums with said belt when said drums are rotated to eject the frozen contents from said container, said containervhaving outwardly inclined flexible side walls, and transverse partitions aiding in supporting said side walls while stationary against undue outward flexure under the weight of the contained liquid, said transverse partitions .having a slot therein to facilitate the bending of said container around said drums and the ejection of the frozen contents therefrom.

6. In a refrigerator having a freezing chamber, in combination, a flexible belt mountedupon rotatable drums so as to pass through said freezing chamber, driving means for said drums, and a flexible non-metallic freezing container on said belt, said container having transverse partitions and a longitudinal partition slotted between said transverse partitions to facilitate the bending of said container around said drums and the ejection of the'frozen contents therefrom. Y

7. In a refrigerator having a freezing chamber, in combination, an elongated highly flexible freezing containerhaving continuous longitudifreeing of its frorencontents therefrom.

8. In a refrigerator having a freezing chamber, in combination, a highly exible elongated freezing tray movabLv mounted in 'said freezing cham- 5 ber so as to be capable of being moved longitudinally'fiom its freezing position to an ice-re'4 moving position, said elongated tray having a series of transverse partitions therein forming longitudinally 4arranged individual ice pockets, 1o and roller means for moving said tray and bending it partially around said roller to facilitate the removal of its frozen contents.

9. In a portable automatic refrigerator includinga chilling unit, a exible belt having pockets .15 therein, means for filling said pockets with precooled liquid from a tank within said refrigerator, means placing a portion of said belt in heat I exchange relation to said chilling unit for freezing said liquid into ice cubes, and means for dis- 20 torting said belt and thereby ejecting ice cubes therefrom.

- 10.l Inta refrigerator having a`freezing chamber, in combinatioma stationary freezing supdrum is rotated to eject the frozen contents from 30 said container, said container having flexible side W walls whi h are normally outwardly inclined to such an e nts that they will buckle outwardly rather than inwardly when said container bends around said drum. 35

' 11. In a refrigerator having a freezing chamber, in combination, an endless belt mounted upon rotatable rollers so as to pass through a` freezing position in said chamber, a plurality of elongated flexible freezing containers arranged o longitudinally on said belt each having a series of apertured transverse partitions therein forming longitudinally arranged and interconnecting ice pockets so that all the pockets of each container may be filled from a single source with- 4,5 out moving said container, a single supply means for lling each container while stationary in its freezing position, and means for rotating one of said rollers to ,cause each elongated container to bend progressively therearound to facilitate the 50 removal of its frozenjcontents.

12. In a refrigeratrfin combination, a freezing chamber having` a stationary metal support therein maintained at freezing temperature, a rotatable drum adjacent said support, an elon- 55 gated exible freezing container adapted to move over said metal support and around said drum, said container being normally supported upon said support during freezing of its contents and bonded thereto by condensation frost, said drum e0 `being so positioned relative to said support as to tend to lift said belt from said support when said drum is rotated, whereby-to facilitate the freeing of any 'frozen bond between said belt and support.

13. In a refrigerator, in combination, a freezing chamber having a stationary metal support therein, a rotatable drum adjacent said support, an elongated flexible freezing container adapted to move over said support and around said drum, 70 said container being normally supported upon said support during .freezing of its contents, the top of saiddrum being positioned substantially higher than said support so that said iiexible container is pulled upwardly at an angle from 75 the plane of said metal support to its point of contact with said drum when'said drum is rotated. I

14. In a refrigerator, in combination, a freezing chamber having a metal support therein maintained at a freezing temperature, a freezing container having a flexible bottom wall adapted to rest directly upon said metal support during the freezing of its contents whereby to increase the rate of freezing, and means for progressively flexing said flexible bottom wall so as to facilitate its separation from said metal support and simultaneously moving said container toward an ice removing position.

15. A refrigerating apparatus having ing chamber, in combination, a highly exible elongated freezing tray movably mounted in said freezing chamber so as to be capable of being moved longitudinally from its freezing positiontoan ice removing position, said elongated tray having a plurality of transverse partitions therein forming longitudinally arranged individual ice pockets, a pair of spaced apart rollers and a rea freezfrigerated plate intermediate the rollers for supporting said tray, and means for rotating one of said rollers for causing movement of said tray along said plate and bending thereof partially around one of said rollers to facilitate removal of its frozen contents.

16. A refrigerating apparatus having a freezing chamber, in combination. a highly flexible elongated freezing tray movably mounted in said freezing chamber so' as to be capable of being 10 moved longitudinally from its freezing position to an ice removing position, said elongated tray having a plurality of partitions extending longitudinally with the tray and a plurality of transverse partitions therein forming a plurality of in- 15 dividual ice pockets, roller means for moving said tray and bending it partially around said roller to remove the frozen contents therefrom, and said longitudinally extending partitions vbeing separated from the transverse partitions at the 20 intersecting points thereof to facilitate removal of the frozen contents from the tray.

, RALPH H. CHILTON. v

' CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,026,214.

RALPH H. CHILTON.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of J@he above numberedv patent requiring correction as follows: 'Page 5, first column, line '75, claim 7, strike out the words "belt and adapted to pass around said drums are" and insert instead the syllable and wordsv tating one of' said rollers 'to cause said container; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 18th day of February, A. D. 1936.`

Leslie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

December 3l, 1.935. 

